UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS (1 OF 4)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35
This content is part of a series.
Title: Unlimited Forgiveness (1 of 4)
Series: Forgiven to Forgive
Author: Keith Krell
Text: Matthew 18:21-35
Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, ". . . love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Jesus' words remain radically counter-cultural. We live in a world filled with adversity and animosity. We're encouraged to "fight fire with fire" and ensure that we don't get trampled down. But we've seen the damage of this behavior. The love of Jesus is the only solution. But we can't obey Jesus' command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us if we can't first forgive. The only way we can overcome difficult and harmful people in our lives is by choosing to forgive.
On March 30, podcaster sensation, Joe Rogan, interviewed journalist Michael Shellenberger, who shared that he had embraced Christianity. While writing his chart-topping book, Apocalypse Never, he started to ask the question: "What's the remedy for this intense hatred and anger against civilizations?" He concluded that Christianity is the only viable solution to the hatred and anger. He then determined that "Loving your enemies is, for me, what Christianity is about. It's the heart of Christianity. It's really hard." Rogan then brought up "forgiveness" as the heart of Christianity. Shellenberger agreed, "Forgiveness isreally, really hard." But he said, "I'm interested in having a faith that's hard, not easy. If it were easy, what's the point?" I certainly can't vouch for the validity of Shellenberger's faith, and I believe Joe Rogan is still an atheist, but these two influential global personalities recognize the importance of Jesus' emphasis upon forgiveness.
This morning, we're kicking off a six-week series called, "Forgiven to Forgive." We'll limit our study to Jesus' words in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke. This series will not be exhaustive, but I do hope it whets your appetite to study the biblical theme of forgiveness on your own. I've wanted t ...
Series: Forgiven to Forgive
Author: Keith Krell
Text: Matthew 18:21-35
Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, ". . . love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Jesus' words remain radically counter-cultural. We live in a world filled with adversity and animosity. We're encouraged to "fight fire with fire" and ensure that we don't get trampled down. But we've seen the damage of this behavior. The love of Jesus is the only solution. But we can't obey Jesus' command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us if we can't first forgive. The only way we can overcome difficult and harmful people in our lives is by choosing to forgive.
On March 30, podcaster sensation, Joe Rogan, interviewed journalist Michael Shellenberger, who shared that he had embraced Christianity. While writing his chart-topping book, Apocalypse Never, he started to ask the question: "What's the remedy for this intense hatred and anger against civilizations?" He concluded that Christianity is the only viable solution to the hatred and anger. He then determined that "Loving your enemies is, for me, what Christianity is about. It's the heart of Christianity. It's really hard." Rogan then brought up "forgiveness" as the heart of Christianity. Shellenberger agreed, "Forgiveness isreally, really hard." But he said, "I'm interested in having a faith that's hard, not easy. If it were easy, what's the point?" I certainly can't vouch for the validity of Shellenberger's faith, and I believe Joe Rogan is still an atheist, but these two influential global personalities recognize the importance of Jesus' emphasis upon forgiveness.
This morning, we're kicking off a six-week series called, "Forgiven to Forgive." We'll limit our study to Jesus' words in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke. This series will not be exhaustive, but I do hope it whets your appetite to study the biblical theme of forgiveness on your own. I've wanted t ...
There are 23840 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
